


an angel ain't what i need

by morlawny



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst and Feels, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, Nightmares, aziraphale has a nightmare, crowley comforts him, crowley is soft for this angel, nightmare crowley is hurt, what a good demon husband
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 06:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19847200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morlawny/pseuds/morlawny
Summary: Aziraphale, who rarely sleeps, usually has good dreams. The events during and after the Not-Apocalypse, however, have left him feeling much more paranoid than normal. He has his first nightmare, and afterward, Crowley is there to comfort him.Idea credit to the prompt generator.





	an angel ain't what i need

Sleep was a foreign concept to angels and demons, or any immortal being, for that matter. Still, Aziraphale liked to occasionally partake in the act, if only just to clear his constantly buzzing thoughts. They had been especially buzzing ever since the events of the Not-Apocalypse, mostly wondering… what he was going to do now. He was an outcast from Heaven (Honestly, he had been ever since he decided to stay on Earth those thousands of years ago), and had nothing to fight for anymore. Adam had claimed his humanity and no longer needed guidance. 

And Crowley, well… They didn’t have to worry about hiding themselves anymore, and that was all that mattered.

He finished his cup of chamomile tea and miracled it clean, back to the cupboard. It didn’t take much for him to decide to try and sleep, considering how surprisingly exhausted he felt. Being in Hell imitating your best friend would do that to you, he supposed. 

Heaving a small sigh, he shed his jacket, and worked to loosen his bow tie, as well as his other garments.

Once everything was removed and folded on his dresser, he remained in nothing but a t-shirt and briefs (he’d made the switch from long-johns sometime in the late 1930s. It was definitely one of the better inventions of mankind, in his honest opinion). 

He glanced at the antique clock on the wall, which read midnight. This was about the time humans went to bed, right? The streets were much quieter the later it was, and most businesses closed before nightfall, so he must be right.

Aziraphale fluffed his pillow a couple of times before pulling back the duvet and sliding into bed. Occasionally he’d make his way from the couch in his shop, several books in hand, up to his bed to read, as it was rather comfortable.

The angel stared at the ceiling for a moment as he lay there, his mind uneasy. They had managed to keep their respective head offices fooled after their trick, but for how long? Sure, he and Crowley had managed to keep their 6,000 year friendship a secret, but things could change… They always did.

That was the way the world worked.

Aziraphale took a deep breath and finally closed his eyes after what seemed like a millennia. His breathing slowly, but surely, began to slow into deep, long intakes. A sign that sleep would soon overcome him.

When Aziraphale did sleep, he always dreamt. Usually about good things, like dining at the Ritz with Crowley, or speeding through the England countryside in a very distinctive Bentley blasting Queen through its speakers… with Crowley.

All of his good dreams involved Crowley, it seemed.

Crowley appeared relatively quickly in this dream. It began as a lot of his dreams do, in St. James Park by the bench they always sat in. The angel smiled wide and started to approach him, only to stop dead once he saw a frightening expression cross the demon's face. One of pure agony and _fear_.

“Crowley-”

Aziraphale tried to move, but found himself glued to the spot as he watched Crowley fall to his knees, letting out terrible cries of pain. Confusion, terror, and adrenaline coursed through the angel’s veins as his eyes moved upward to the cause of Crowley’s pain, widening when they locked with a very familiar pair of piercing violet ones.

“Gabriel,” he breathed shakily, his voice nearly inaudible.

“Hello, Aziraphale.” 

A sickening smirk crossed the archangel’s face as he spoke and Aziraphale blanched. What was he doing here? And most importantly, what did he do to Crowley?

The angel was speechless as he tried to process the situation happening at that very moment, snapping back with a wince as Crowley let out another scream. He wanted so badly to help the demon, to get him out of here and somewhere safe where he could see what Gabriel had done.

But he remained rigid, unable to move anything but his eyes as they met Gabriel’s again.

“Gabriel, I-”

“Don’t bother, Aziraphale. We know all about you two did. Tricking us, and whatnot,” he said with a slight scoff at the end.

"To be honest, I didn't think you had it in you." A chuckle ended the sentence. "You've always been so..." he trailed off, furrowing his brow as he tried to think of the word.

"Compliant."

Aziraphale winced again, lowering his gaze to Crowley, who was a crumpled heap on the ground. Of course he had been compliant, what angel wouldn't follow orders from one of the most powerful beings in the universe?

_The ones who Fell..._

He could see a bit more of Crowley's injuries now, and he couldn’t stop the tears from welling in his eyes. Holy water… Of course, what other weapon would an _archangel_ use against a demon? There had to be some way he could get them out of there. “Gabriel, please, I can explain-”

“Like I said, don’t bother,” Gabriel said with a wave of his hand as he moved away from the immobilized demon. His expression turned thoughtful as he walked with his hands behind his back, his violet eyes never leaving Aziraphale’s gaze. 

“You know, Aziraphale,” he began, starting to slowly circle the angel with an amused, almost lackadaisical gait. “You’re _definitely_ going to Fall for this. Join your little buddy there,” he added, sparing a glance to Crowley before giving a mock grimace.

“Oh wait.. Yeah, he’ll probably die, if we’re being honest. You know how Hell can be.” 

Gabriel gave a nonchalant shrug. Tears were flowing freely down Aziraphale’s face now as he watched Crowley, who was now unconscious. A part of him felt he deserved this… He went against Heaven, and he should have known how it would play out. Another part of him, a much darker, almost non-existent part, wanted Gabriel to burn. Wanted _all_ of Heaven and Hell to burn. 

His knees felt weak as he stared at Crowley’s body, only wanting to hold him and miracle away the burns the holy water had left on his back. _This was his fault_. His eyes fell closed and more tears pushed down his face, dropping onto his waistcoat, though he could care less about the state of his clothing at that point… Not while his best friend was dying right in front of him.

Aziraphale startled as the earth beside Crowley began to break, and Beelzebub pushed their way to the surface, brushing the dirt off of their jacket once they were out. The blond angel’s heart began to race, and he tried to shake his head.

“Please, Gabriel, there must be something I could do - just..” He looked between Beelzebub and the archangel, his eyes pleading. “ _Please_ don’t do this, don’t hurt him,” Aziraphale whimpered, lip quivering as two more demons rose from the earth beside Beelzebub. Gabriel quirked a brow at him, feigning an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry, Aziraphale. Except… not really,” the archangel responded in a sarcastic tone, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “You knew what would happen, and you chose to do it anyway. You went against the Great Plan.” Gabriel stopped beside Aziraphale, hands folded behind his back. “This is your punishment. Besides Falling, of course.”

The demons grabbed Crowley’s arms and hoisted him up, earning a low, weak groan of pain from him. Aziraphale whimpered again as the demons moved back to holes they rose from with Crowley, and more tears began to stream down his face.

“No, _no_ -” he gasped, fighting desperately against the invisible force that kept him in place, but to no avail. He’d heard tell of things like this happening in nightmares, but he never knew it would be this terrifying.

“Please, don’t kill him, I’ll do anything,” he cried, his voice breaking. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, and honestly, he wanted nothing more than to go with him.

Beelzebub glanced at Gabriel, scrunching their nose. “Are all angels like this?” they asked, and Gabriel shook his head.

“No, Aziraphale is a special case,” he replied, folding his hands behind his back. “He’s spent much too long consorting with humans. Their emotions rubbed off on him.”

The demon Lord rolled their eyes and glanced at Crowley, who began to stir slightly. “So has that one. We’ll make sure he’s dealt with properly,” they muttered, giving a nod to the other demons.

With that, the four began to sink into the ground, taking Crowley with them. The demon managed to open his eyes, albeit blearily, and land directly on Aziraphale, who’s own eyes were wide with panic and filled with tears

“‘Ziraphale..”

“Crowley, my dear,” he whispered, his voice breaking again as the demon sank further.

“I love you… I love you-”

As soon as Crowley’s head disappeared beneath the dirt, and Aziraphale closed his eyes…

The dream ended.

The real Aziraphale shot up in bed with quick, shallow gasps. He ran a hand through wispy white hair and found it to be soaked with a thin layer of sweat; something he mostly tried to avoid doing.

It was a dream. It was all a dream…

But it had felt so _real_.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest, and as he brushed his fingers along his face, he found streaks where tears fell.

Another hand joined his, and he lifted his panicked gaze to meet a pair of familiar yellow eyes. 

Aziraphale didn't try to hide it. Tears began flowing again, and he wrapped his hands around the demon's neck, pulling him into an almost crushing embrace. He ignored the grunt that came from the demon, but let himself melt into the others arms as Crowley pulled him closer.

"Oh, Crowley," he breathed shakily, burying his face into the crook of the other's neck.

“Shh, it’s alright, angel…” the other murmured, rubbing small, soothing circles into the angel’s back. He moved them so they laid on their sides, facing each other.

“It was so awful, Crowley,” Aziraphale managed to say, pulling back to look at him with tear filled eyes. Crowley’s heart sank at the sight. In 6,000 years of knowing the angel, he’d never seen him this upset.

“Gabriel, he.. He found out what we did… He poured holy water on you,” he told him, his voice wavering as the image of Crowley’s mangled body reappeared in his mind. “He let Beelzebub take you back to Hell to do God only knows what…” 

Crowley winced at this, knowing full well what would happen to him if they were somehow caught. Beelzebub wasn’t known for being particularly kind with traitors. Still, he wasn’t worried. He continued to rub Aziraphale’s back, and reached up with his other hand to begin stroking his hair.

“You don’t have to worry, angel,” he murmured soothingly as he pressed his forehead gently against Aziraphale’s. “They still have no idea what happened, and I doubt they’d try and mess with us anytime soon,” he added reassuringly.

Aziraphale could only nod in response, closing his eyes as he tried to focus on Crowley’s fingers in his hair and on his back. A small smile graced his features after a moment and he looked up to meet the demon’s eyes, feeling his heart swell at the sight. He could spend the rest of eternity staring at them.

“I never want to lose you, my dear… I simply wouldn’t make it without you.”

The angel’s voice was soft and matter-of-fact as he said this, and Crowley felt himself smile as well, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. 

“You’re stuck with me until the end of time, love.”

Aziraphale’s cheeks flushed at the show of affection, and his smile widened. He moved closer to the demon, nestling his face back in the crook of his neck. Crowley closed his eyes and relished the feeling of the angel’s warm body against his own. It wasn’t too often that they lay like this together, but ever since the Not-Apocalypse, it was happening more than usual. Though Crowley wasn’t going to complain.

They laid together the rest of the night, and Aziraphale let himself try and fall asleep again. This time, there were no nightmares; only Crowley, radiant as ever with large black wings outstretched behind him. The sunlight made his hair shine like fire, and his eyes... 

Aziraphale really could stare at them for eternity.

**Author's Note:**

> wow ok so the prompt for this fic really jumped out and demanded i do something with it, so here we are!! i do hope you enjoyed this, as it is my first gomens fic. i really hope i didn't go ooc too much ahhh. feel free to check me out on:
> 
> tumblr: @edmercer  
> twitter: @gamgeez
> 
> if you did enjoy, please leave some kudos or even a comment! i love hearing from you guys!!


End file.
